NAMI Veterans and Military Council

The NAMI National Veterans and Military Council (NVMC) is organized under the authority of and is advisory to the NAMI National Board of Directors. The NVMC is a leadership body of NAMI members who are veterans and active military with mental illness, family members of veterans or active military and others committed to advocating for and helping veterans and active military personnel with mental illness and their families.

Mission:

The NVMC mission is to support the mission of NAMI and specifically to support advocacy and education by NAMI at the federal, state and local levels on mental health policy, educational initiatives and advocacy priorities impacting active duty military personnel and veterans with mental illness as well as family members of these individuals.

Membership:

Members are selected by the governing board of each NAMI State Organization, with advice from local NAMI Affiliates in the state. In addition, up to five members shall be appointed by the NAMI Board of Directors. Each NAMI State Organization and the President of NAMI, no later than 60 days prior to the NAMI annual convention and annual meeting, provides the names of their designated NVMC members or an alternate. Members of NVMC must be NAMI members in good standing and will serve for two years. Individuals interested in serving on the NVMC are encouraged to contact their NAMI State Organization or email RonH@nami.org for more information

Officers:

Chair— Daniel Williams, Alabama

First Vice-Chair— Andy A. Draper, Oregon

Second Vice-Chair— Aaron Estabrook, Kansas

Secretary— Daphne G. Grady, Louisiana

Council Members

LTC Kenny Allred is a retired U.S. Army Officer, high school teacher, adjunct college instructor, business trainer and deputy sheriff. He now volunteers as a mental health advocate with a focus on warriors, veterans and their families. He is a former Army Airborne Ranger Infantry Officer, opposing force commanding officer, Military Intelligence Battalion Commander and a helicopter and fixed wing aviator who flew reconnaissance aircraft missions against both Cold War and combat targets. He is a graduate of the Military Intelligence Officers’ Advanced Course, the Mohawk Aircraft surveillance and reconnaissance course, Army Photo Interpretation School, U.S. Air Force Defense Sensor Course, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Tennessee Tech University (BA, Marketing) and Kansas University (MS, Middle East & Russian History and Remote Sensing). Kenny served in Europe, Australia, Central America, Asia and the Middle East and as a force integration staff officer and congressional briefing writer at the Pentagon. He is professionally published in both Military Intelligence and in Military Review Magazines. He has developed instruction and taught for the Australian Schools of Military Intelligence and Aviation, U.S. Army Intelligence Center and School, Roane State Community College and University of Tennessee Medical Center in both personal contact and interactive distance learning settings. He is a member of the American Legion, Disabled American Veterans, Military Officers’ Association of America and AMVETS. Kenny serves as the Chair of the NAMI Tennessee Veterans’ Council, the Tennessee Governor’s Veterans’ Task Force and as a member of an inter-agency Behavioral Health Advisory Council. He received the 2009 NAMI Tennessee President’s Award for his mental health advocacy efforts. He lives and farms in East Tennessee.

Clare Munat has been a member of the NAMI Veterans Council now the NAMI Veterans and Military Council (NVMC), since 2009 serving as the Parliamentarian on the Veteran’s Council Executive Committee. She previously served 11 years as President of the NAMI Vermont. She is a support group leader trainer in Vermont and started a support group at the VA Center in White River Junction, where she was also a teacher in the NAMI Provider Education Program that was offered there.Munat currently serve on Vermont’s State Program Standing Committee for Adult Mental Health, which functions as the state’s mental health board, and is also co-facilitator of the mental health block grant council in Vermont. The wife of a veteran who experienced major depression and addiction disorders, she is also the mother of a son who lives with schizophrenia.

Michael O’Neil Jones, Ph.D., is a retired Assistant Professor of Psychology at the College of the Ozarks where he taught for sixteen years. Dr. Jones retired from the U.S. Navy as a Lieutenant Commander after twenty years of extensive world travel experiencing diverse cultures and ethnic lifestyles. Dr. Jones served as a Chaplain in the naval service where he had the privilege of serving tours in both the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Marine Corps. Prior to joining the Navy he served in the U.S. Air Force for six years. Dr. Jones has been an active member of NAMI Missouri for seventeen years and for ten years has been a member of the NAMI Missouri board of directors. He has been the past president of both NAMI Missouri and his local NAMI Affiliate. As an individual who lives with mental illness, he teaches NAMI Family-to-Family and the NAMI Provider Education Course and is a presenter for NAMI In Our Own Voice. He is the state trainer for NAMI Family-to-Family Group Facilitators and has facilitated a NAMI Connection Support Group. As a senior instructor for Mental Health First Aid, Dr. Jones has taught 32 courses since 2008. He presently is the NAMI Missouri State Representative to the NAMI Veterans Council, now the NAMI Veterans and Military Council (NVMC), since 2007; he continues to serve as First Vice President since 2009.

Samuel Hargrove is a service-connected disabled veteran having served in the 1991 Persian Gulf War and various other missions where he received numerous service-related awards and commendations. He has served in various civilian capacities from laborer to chief executive of a medical facility in southern Virginia, all with recognition from U.S. Congressional and Senate leaders, county and state officials along with commendations from state and federal agencies, entities and organizations. He served with pride, honor and distinction in the U.S. Army Reserves, the U.S. Army and retired from the Army National Guard. Hargrove is trained as a NAMI Peer-to-Peer mentor, NAMI Connection Support Group facilitator and an In Our Own Voice presenter and trainer. He also currently serves as chair of the NAMI North Carolina Veterns and Military Council. He is a writer and author of the weblog “Samz Ramblingz” and brings over 27 years of lived experience in the culture of the U.S. armed forces to his NVMC role.